China's Hotel Boom

The view from the top of Beijing's newest and tallest skyscraper is to die for. Still a year from completion, the upper floors are a mess of flapping safety nets and tangled steel wires, but there are glimpses of what will be a spectacular, 360-degree panorama. The outlook to the west is particularly stunning—a sweep down the wide swath of Chang'an Avenue, past the Forbidden City over roofs and parks all the way out to the hazy crests of the Western Hills. It's the best view in China's booming capital, and you'd expect one of the country's corporate titans to be...